I grew up an army brat. My father was an E-6 Sergeant after 27 years and three wars. I was taught to respect everyone, no matter who they were. I didn’t grow up with privileges, but I did grow up with a different type of bigotry. Officers families did not grow up with enlisted families. More than once the “Officer” club would beat us up. No cross dating or any other association. However, I am white and I was drafted during Vietnam. Thanks to the GI Bill, I got a college education and have been able to have a great profession. I worked by tail off to raise myself above the slums my family had to live in when I was a kid. I feel for people of color, but to terrorize neighborhoods and businesses of people that worked hard to have what they have and have it destroyed because a black man was killed. Look at his record and history. He had just tried to pass a counterfeit $20 for cigarettes, which is a federal felony.
I was 11 in 1958 and we had a tv that was almost as big as a dishwasher. We had 2 channels. There was one channel we didn’t get and it showed Shirley Temple stories. When Shirley Temple was on, we went to our neighbors to watch it. When I got out of the army in 1970, I bought a color TV and an antenna. I put it on a pole and would turn it to get better reception. Now that our kids are all gone, we have 4 UHD TV’s. Those 4 TVs cost less than the one my pop bought. I do remember being the remote for my pop. It was fun, especially when Elvis and the Beatles were on Sunday PM with Ed Sullivan. It was the best of times.
I loved to tell my son how hard it was when I was young. I did have to walk 3 miles to high school because I wanted to be an architect and the closer school didn’t teach mechanical drawing. It wasn’t so bad in the fall and spring, but winter was bad. I did that for 2 years. A teacher offered me a ride to school but when I came over to catch the ride, her husband was a louse and called me all sorts of names. I was too proud to take it, so I walked to school my last year there. It rained and snowed, but my pride wouldn’t let me be humble. Anyway, my last year at the school, my mechanical teacher told me I didn’t have what it takes to be an architect… what a waste. Anyway, we only had a black and white TV with only 2 stations, both of which only showed what my father wanted to watch… at least that’s what he told me. One Sunday, I told my parents I was too sick to go to church, so I stayed home and watched Ed Sullivan and the Beatles!!!!! Wow! What a ride.
I grew up an army brat. My father was an E-6 Sergeant after 27 years and three wars. I was taught to respect everyone, no matter who they were. I didn’t grow up with privileges, but I did grow up with a different type of bigotry. Officers families did not grow up with enlisted families. More than once the “Officer” club would beat us up. No cross dating or any other association. However, I am white and I was drafted during Vietnam. Thanks to the GI Bill, I got a college education and have been able to have a great profession. I worked by tail off to raise myself above the slums my family had to live in when I was a kid. I feel for people of color, but to terrorize neighborhoods and businesses of people that worked hard to have what they have and have it destroyed because a black man was killed. Look at his record and history. He had just tried to pass a counterfeit $20 for cigarettes, which is a federal felony.